Realizations
by m333h
Summary: Our two hot detectives come to a realization. Kind of a Thanksgiving tale.


**Disclaimer: **Not mine, but I did the wishbone tradition, so who knows.

**AN:** Happy Thanksgiving . . . gobble, gobble :) Please let me know what you think of my story.

* * *

**Stabler residence**

"Kathy we're home," Elliot called out as he and his kids made their way into the house.

"Hey guys," Kathy greeted as she walked down the stairs. "How was your weekend at your dad's? What'd you guys do?"

"We went to the park and hung out," Dick shrugged as he dropped his bag on the floor.

"How about you Liz, did you have fun?" Kathy asked as she looked at her daughter.

"Yeah, I guess. Mom, we did everything we do here; only it was at dad's place," Liz smirked.

"Oh, well go wash up dinner is almost ready," Kathy smiled as she reached to hold Eli.

Elliot kissed his son's cheek before giving him to Kathy, "I guess I'll be going then."

"Stay, there's plenty of food and I'd really like to talk to you after dinner," Kathy said.

"All right," Elliot agreed after a moment.

Elliot, Kathy, Dick, Liz and Eli were all eating dinner together. They were currently discussing the Thanksgiving holiday that was quickly approaching.

"So, Elliot what are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Kathy curiously asked.

"Oh, well I'm not sure yet. I don't know if I'm on call," Elliot answered wondering where his ex-wife was going with her questions.

"Hmm, what about Olivia? Is she working on Thursday?" Kathy continued with her questions.

Elliot looked dumbfounded since Kathy had never asked about his partner's holiday plans before, "What about her?"

"Dad, Mom's asking if Olivia has plans for Thanksgiving," Dick chuckled seeing his father's expression.

"Yeah, I thought you were the dumb one of the family, _Dick_," Liz laughed when Dick threw a roll at her.

"Hey, knock it off you two," Elliot sternly reprimanded. "Kathy, why the sudden interest in Liv's plans?"

Kathy sighed deciding to get to the point instead of beating around the bush, "I want_ you_ to invite Olivia to Thanksgiving, and I want you to come as well."

"Huh? Are you serious? Why would you want Liv here? I mean you've never wanted her here before," Elliot rationalized after realizing Kathy's intentions.

"This is better than my soap," Liz whispered to her brother as they waited for the impending fight that they thought they were about to witness.

"Kids why don't you put Eli to bed," Kathy suggested.

Ah, man I don't wanna miss this," Dick groaned.

"Shut up, Richard, let's go," Liz pointed to the door as they made their way to it she whispered something in his ear.

Elliot waited until the kids were gone before he questioned his ex-wife, "All right Kathy what's this about?"

"What?" Kathy replied.

"You were always accusing me of having an affair with Liv, no I'm sorry you used to tell me or rather scream at me to stop 'fucking my partner,' and now you want to spend a day with her? What's the deal? I'm sure you can see there are plenty of reasons to be suspicious," he pointed out making sure to remind her of her accusations.

"Oh God, I can't believe I used to say that," she blushed remembering their previous arguments.

"Yeah, well I can't really blame you, but seriously what's this about?" he continued to question Kathy's motives.

"It's just that . . . we've been divorced for over a year now, and you know I've met Ron . . . I just . . . well . . . you . . ." Kathy stuttered having a hard time voicing her intentions.

"I know you're happy with Ron, and I'm happy for you – believe me, but what does Liv have to do with all of this?" Elliot asked having a hard time understanding what she was trying to tell him.

"Well, I was kinda hoping . . . um, well you see it's like this . . ." again Kathy tried but failed to put into words what she was trying to accomplish.

Just then Liz and Dick ran into the kitchen after listening to their parents' conversation behind the door.

"Man, I have no idea how you two were married for so long. You can't even communicate," Liz rolled her eyes.

"Hey, watch it," Kathy scolded.

"What? It's true! I mean Liv can understand dad's grunts and growls, trust me I've seen it," Dick jumped in trying to help his sister out of a jam, but after seeing his parents reactions to his statement it seemed as though he was digging himself into a deeper hole right along with her.

"Ooookay I don't know how we got off track, but before this gets any worse let us help you," Liz decided to intervene before they got grounded for life. "Mom would like you to ask Olivia over for Thanksgiving. She wants all of our loved ones under one roof at least for Thanksgiving. I mean Ron will be here, we will be here, Maureen and Kathleen will be here, and you will be here so that only leaves Olivia. You know she's been a part of this family; we all love her and we want her here with us," she gave her father a quick hug.

"Yes, thank you. That's exactly what I was trying to say," Kathy smiled relieved that the kids had helped her out.

"I don't know guys that might not be the best idea . . ." Elliot stared to protest but seeing everyone's faces he changed his mind. "All right, I'll ask her next time I see her, but I can't guarantee anything because she might have plans or we might have to work."

**SVU squad room**

It was a slow day and everyone was currently working on finishing up their paperwork. They all looked towards Cragen's door when they heard him curse.

"Who's catching?" Don asked as he made his way over to the detectives' desks.

"We are," John answered.

"Head over to Mercy we got a vic, here are the details," Don handed Fin a piece of paper.

"Why can't these wackos take a day off?" Fin grumbled as he John were leaving.

Elliot cleared his throat before he took a deep breath, "So um Liv, you got anything planned for Thanksgiving on Thursday?"

Olivia put her pen down and stretched before answering, "Simon invited me over to his place to spend the day with him, Lucy, and their kids. Why?"

Elliot blushed and silently cursed himself for assuming that she had no plans. He always forgot about Simon since she didn't really talk about her brother. Not that he could blame her since they had stopped sharing personal stories thanks to his decision to push her away when he tried working things out with Kathy.

"Elliot, are you okay? Hello, are you listening to me? Are you feeling all right?" Olivia threw a pen at him trying to get his attention.

"Oh sorry, um, well I wanted to see if you wanted to . . . uh, spend Thanksgiving with the Stablers," he shyly asked hating to hear her rejection.

Olivia was shocked, not at the invitation, but at the thought of Elliot back together with Kathy. Because the last she heard the divorce had been final and he didn't want to go through another attempt to fix his marriage knowing full well that it would fail.

"Liv, Liv, Liv, Olivia!" Elliot was getting worried seeing the unshed tears in her eyes.

"Uh, excuse me," Olivia whispered as she made a beeline for the restroom. As soon as she entered she leaned against the door and let the sob burst out of her throat and let her tears run unchecked. 'How could I be so stupid? Of course he went back to Kathy! He loves her,' she thought as she continued to cry. She hadn't realized how much time she had spent in the restroom when she heard someone knocking.

"Liv are you in there?" Elliot asked knowing that she was in there after checking the locker room, the cribs, and the rooftop for her.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second," she said trying to wipe away the evidence of her breakdown.

"ESU is en route. The suspect is holding a hostage or hostages; we know is that this guy is desperate and will do anything at this point. Munch and Fin are there waiting for their next orders, you guys are going there as back up. I'll be there soon; I gotta take care of a couple of things first. Don't do anything without clearance, am I understood?" Don briefed Elliot on the situation they were about to go into.

"Got it," Elliot replied for both he and Olivia.

**Hostage location**

Elliot and Olivia got to the scene and noticed all of the activity that was taking place. They made their way over to Fin and John to get an update of the situation.

"What've got?" Elliot asked as he and Olivia put their bullet proof vests on.

"Samuel Millerton, 49, white male with a rap sheet that ranges from petty theft to rape to murder. He raped our vic 15 year old Leila Millerton his stepdaughter. Fin and I came to question him but as soon as we identified ourselves he locked himself in the house with his son and wife. We tried a negotiator, but that didn't work," John sighed.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked when she noticed John's grim look.

"Psycho shot his wife, we don't know if she's dead, but we can't do nothin' 'til ESU and the captain give us clearance," Fin answered for John as he handed Olivia and Elliot a picture of their suspect.

"We were just waiting for you guys and the captain to storm the house," John informed the two detectives it was days like these that made him want to retire.

"I just spoke with ESU; they're going in first once they clear the place we go – got it?" Don quickly gave his detectives orders. When they heard another shot ESU decided to execute their plan before the situation got worse. They heard over the radio that the suspect was in the wind. ESU had searched the entire house and they had only found the injured woman and the frightened child.

After getting clearance to enter the house the SVU team made their way into the house. They checked on the woman and child and after handing them over to the paramedics they decided to do a sweep of the property. Fin and Munch were upstairs; Don was in the living room while Elliot and Olivia were in the basement.

"This place is disgusting," Olivia said noticing the garbage and the other things that she didn't want to guess what they were littered the floor.

"Yeah, and that stench is; wow," Elliot agreed.

"Psst," Olivia tried to subtly get his attention once she succeeded she pointed to the floor.

Both carefully lifted the trap door on the floor hoping that whatever or whoever was under there didn't notice their actions.

**Outside the house**

"Tell them Samuel is down there!" the agitated woman screamed at the paramedics that were treating her injury.

"Ma'am you're going to have to calm down the sedative should kick in soon," a paramedic tried calming the woman down.

"Just please, tell them Samuel is down there," she pleaded when an ESU member happened to walk by.

"Samuel is down where, ma'am?" the ESU member questioned.

"Basement . . . trap door . . ." the woman groggily answered after the effects of the sedative was taking effect.

"Shit!" the ESU member quickly got on the radio to warn anyone that was in the house particularly in the basement.

**Back in the house**

Munch, Fin, Don, and a few ESU members quickly made their way down to the basement after hearing the call over their earpieces. When they got to the basement they noticed Elliot and Olivia were missing and the trap door was open. As they descended the stairs they all froze momentarily when they heard two gunshots. They all quickly regained their senses and ran to see what had happened. When they approached the scene that greeted them was grisly.

"Detective what happened? Is Olivia shot? Is she hurt?! I need medics down here!" Don quickly took action after noticing their suspect bleeding on the floor. He also noticed Elliot was hugging and cradling Olivia's body against his chest.

_~Moments Earlier~_

_Olivia and Elliot had successfully lifted the trap door. After deciding that she would follow they descended the stairs which led to a little hallway. There was a flickering light bulb which provided a little light. Both detectives carefully did a sweep of the place with their weapons drawn. When they got to the end of the hallway they noticed a rickety door that led to a room or an escape of some sort. They both counted to three before Elliot kicked the door down with Olivia ready to take action if she needed._

_Everything happened so quickly that Olivia didn't have a chance to react. The only thing she heard was a loud shot and felt a sharp pain which caused her to fall to the ground. _

_Elliot had kicked the door down, and as soon as it hit the floor a shot rang out from inside the room. Samuel Millerton had shot at the detectives and as soon as Elliot saw that Olivia was hit he fired his weapon at the suspect. His shot hit the suspect in the chest which caused him to drop his weapon. Elliot quickly ran to the suspect to secure his weapon and after doing so he ran to check on Olivia's injuries. _

"_Oh, God! No, no, no, no . . . Liv! Liv! Olivia! Baby, talk to me," Elliot frantically called out and gently searched her body for injuries. _

_Olivia coughed a couple of times before forming any words, "I'm fine . . . hit . . . the vest. What about you?" Elliot carefully cradled her body close to his trying to make sure she was still with him._

"_I'm fine, and you're okay . . . you're okay," he repeated more to himself as reassurance._

_Olivia smiled when she realized Elliot's term of endearment for her, "Baby?"_

_Elliot gently brushed some hair away from her face and looked down at her, "Liv, there's something I have to tell you . . ." he started saying when he heard Don and the rest of the cavalry approach. _

_~End of Flashback~_

**SVU locker room**

Olivia was removing her shirt to assess any damage or injury she may have sustained since she had insisted she didn't need medical attention. After arguing Don had relented only because Elliot promised to take her to the hospital if she needed medical attention.

"You know I've had dreams like these," she heard someone say.

"Shit! Elliot, don't do that you scared me," she scolded but smiled when she noticed the grin on his face.

"I scared you? You scared me back there, when I saw you go down . . ." he sighed remembering how his heart had nearly been torn out of his chest.

"I'm fine, El. See I'm still here, it'll take more than some psycho for you to get rid of me," she chuckled lightly trying to lighten the mood when she turned to look at him she was greeted by his muscular chest. "Uh, El . . ."

Elliot tightened his hold on her while he whispered in her ear, "Don't ever do that again, Liv . . . I swear I almost lost it . . . thinking that you were gone."

At first Olivia was completely still but after a couple of seconds she relaxed and hugged him back as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm fine, I promise." Elliot pulled her back a little before he leaned down and captured her lips in a scorching kiss. Neither imagined their first kiss being so intense, but because they were both intense people it didn't really surprise them.

"Ahem, sorry to interrupt but I thought you might wanna know that Samuel Millerton died in surgery. His wife and son are expected to make a full recovery," John smirked noticing the looks on his friends' faces after being caught in a compromising position. He quickly left the two lovebirds alone to resume their previous activities.

"Now I have something else to be grateful for this Thanksgiving . . . you," Elliot smiled as he caressed Olivia's cheek.

"Me too, I'm thankful for you," she smiled and placed several kisses on his face.

"Me three, I just earned 300 bucks; Don, Fin pay up!" John decided to interrupt their tender moment.

"MUNCH!" Both Olivia and Elliot yelled at the same time before turning to each other.

"Liv, I love you," he finally decided to confess his hidden feelings.

"I love you too, Elliot," she smiled before she continued to kiss him. Both realizing they were meant for each other; rules and everyone else was going to be put aside because they were finally going to be happy with each other.

**The End**


End file.
